Battle Scars
by AvatarAddict18
Summary: Face it. We all thought Mako was going to die. Makorra if you want *fights off crazy shippers*
1. Chapter 1

**Takes place right after Kuveria surrenders. I think Mako has fully regained his honour, even if he did fail to capture the Avatar('s heart)**

**Disclaimer: I only take credit for the FEELS. Nothing more.**

* * *

><p><span><strong><em>Battle Scars<em>**

The moment Kuveria was taken into custody by the Beifong's, Mako ran to Korra. He wrapped his right arm around her in a bone-crushing hug and buried his face in her hair.

"I thought you were dead," he choked. He had never been more scared. Losing his parents had been traumatizing. Mako didn't know if he could handle losing any more important people in his life.

Korra hugged him back hard, unaware of the severely burned arm hanging limply at his side. Mako gasped in pain at the contact, but didn't let go of her. Korra tried to pry herself out of his grip, realizing he was hurt. Mako pulled back an arms length, hand still on her shoulder. Korra took in his injuries and gasped.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Mako's lips quirked slightly. She stepped in front of a giant Spirit laser, but wanted to know if _his_ booboo was okay. Classic Korra.

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied. Korra ignored him, stepping closer to examine him.

"Does it hurt?" she studied his face for a sign of pain. This confused Mako more.

"No. Actually, I don't feel it at all. Why?" Korra's confused look turned to worry. Mako began to feel uneasy. His heartbeat quickened.

"Look," Korra looked down and Mako followed her gaze. What he saw terrified him. Korra was grasping his hand, her knuckles white and her muscles flexed with force. Normally, Mako would be on his knees in pain if she did that. She let go and his hand swung lifelessly. Their eyes locked, matching looks of worry.

"Can you feel this?" Korra tentatively placed her trembling hand on his bicep. Mako braced for the burning agony that should have come. The fear that wracked his body was almost as numbing.

"Korra," he whispered, his vision starting to blacken around the edges. His whole body went stiff and mouth tasted like bile.

"Tenzin, I think he is going into shock!" Korra yelled as their friends came rushing over. Bolin caught Mako just as his legs gave out. He could hear Asami's voice yelling, probably CPR instructions. He registered the hard shaking object keeping him steady was Bolin's chest. Korra's face was inches from his, her hands cupping his face as her tears fell on his cheeks. Mako tried to read her lips, to make out what she was trying to tell him, but his panicking body was taking over. He stared into her eyes, using them as a lifeline while his breath came in ragged pants. Everything started melting away but he clung to consciousness, Korra's eyes the lighthouse in the fog settling in his brain.

Then the blackness took over.

* * *

><p>There was the sound of water moving and a woman's voice humming softly. There was the soft smell of aloe as well as the burning scent of alcohol. There was a soft sheet surrounding his body and a strange chaffing material on his in left arm. As Mako's senses started to come back, one sensation stood out.<p>

He could feel the dull burning of his injuries. He flexed his muscles and hissed at the fiery pain that shot through him. Mako's body jerked and curled around the source of his pain.

Suddenly, Korra was there, shushing him and easing him back on his back.

"Hey," she whispered tentatively.

"Hey," Mako weakly whispered back.

"I'm glad you're finally awake. You scared us back there." Korra lifted the bowl of water she was bending and placed it beside his bed.

"This is your fifth healing session. There was a lot of nerve and tissue damage. The scars are going to be bad. We couldn't heal them all," she removed the gauze from his arm and went straight to work. Mako flinched as the water made the burning intensify, then relaxed as it started to glow and cool.

When Korra finished, she lightly placed her hand on one of the lesser-damaged areas of Mako's arm. "Can you feel this?" she asked.

It was an odd sensation. Mako could feel the pressure of her hand just below the surface of his skin, but he couldn't feel the smoothness of her palm.

"Yeah, barley," he replied. He smiled at Korra, grateful for what she and the other healers could do.

"Good," she said, smiling down at him.

Then she slapped him.

"OW! What was that for?" as asked incredulously, his cheek burning more than the arm.

Korra crossed her arms and pouted. "Bolin told me what you did. New team rule: only the Avatar is allowed to almost blow herself up. Got it?"

That was the thanks he got, after risking his life to stop Kuveria? Mako couldn't believe it.

"I did what had to be done. I stopped the Mech didn't I?"

Korra's face softened. "I understand, you did what you had to but…" she looked away, not allowing her tears to fall in front of him. "But what if you failed? What if Bolin didn't pull you out in time? Where would we be without you Mako?"

"Yeah, Team Avatar wouldn't be complete without the brooding fire bender," Mako joked, trying to lighten the mood. Korra laughed and turned back to face him. She went right back to work.

"I think I can heal most of the scars," she mused, bending the water out of the bowl again.

"Leave them," Mako said, waving her hands away. "They're battle scars. They will show the world what we did to protect it. And they will remind me of how I proved my worth; how I redeemed myself."

"Uh-oh, turning into Prince Zuko? Trying to regain your honor cool guy?" Korra giggled. Mako reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Gotcha," he smiled tiredly at their little reenactment. Korra rolled her eyes and kissed his forehead.

"Get some rest. I expect you to be doing one-armed pushups on that thing by the solstice."

Mako chuckled and dozed off to the sound of Korra's voice humming softly.

* * *

><p><strong>Couldn't help myself. I ship Makorra, but if you don't you can just read it as Korra freaking out because one of her best friends almost died in front of her. <strong>

**Review, and also check out my version of the finale titled Together(edited). **

**Emmy **


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, I looked at this and decided that the ending was kind of (****noncommittal hand gesture) meh. And I couldn't leave you hanging. You nerds are too awesome. So here, I'm finishing what I started**

* * *

><p>The only thing worse than electrocuting yourself was getting the silent treatment for doing so.<p>

After the last healing session, Korra would check Mako's bandages without a word. Asami lead him through physical therapy exercises, never making conversation or eye contact. Bolin only poked his head through the door once.

The silence was deafening.

Mako had had enough. They couldn't just tiptoe around him anymore. He could tell his friends were mad, but he figured they would be mature enough to say something about it. Even though Korra had mellowed out over the past few years, he knew that slap wasn't the end of it.

Mako was rubbing aloe on his scares. There was still little to no feeling in his arm. That would have to take some getting used too. He pushed himself out of bed and made his way over to the door. He reached it just as Asami slid it open. There was a spark of surprise on her face before her eyes went cold. She got right down to business.

"Good, you're up. Now sit. We're doing stretches today."

Mako sat heavily on the edge of the bed and weakly lifted his elbow into Asami's waiting hands. He slowly extended his arm, the muscles aching and raw skin tightening. He sucked air through his teeth.

"Breathe through it," Asami instructed coolly. "Three more times."

Mako lowered his arm. "Asami, can we talk?"

She crossed her arms and looked away. "About what?" she said flatly.

"About what happened." When she stayed silent, Mako continued.

"Look, I'm sorry I scared you guys. But that was the only way to take the Mech down." Asami still didn't look at him.

"I don't get why everyone's mad at me. We all had a part to play. We knew the dangers and we were prepared to make the sacrifices."

"You almost died Mako!" Asami had unfrozen, and Mako was about to face her wrath. "I had just lost my father, we didn't know if Korra had survived, then you go and…" She turned away and collected herself.

"You, Korra, and Bolin. You three are my only family now."

Mako understood what she was saying. He didn't realize he played that big of a role in her life. He reached out and took Asami's hand. They stayed that way for a long time. Asami finally turned to face him, her eyes still bright with tears. She blinked them back and checked his bandages.

"Those look really bad," she winced. "Did they get worse? Do you think the healers can save your arm?" Mako looked down at the ruined skin and shrugged. In all honesty, it could have been a lot worse.

"I think they've done all that they could do. Besides, it will give me more streetcred." He smirked at Asami. She scoffed playfully and elbowed him.

"Don't flatter yourself. You never had any to begin with. " She got up to leave.

"I thought you dated me because you liked Bad Boys?" Mako called to her.

"I do like Bad Boys. But that's not why I dated you," she threw a wink at him. "Now get dressed Fire Lily. You have some more people to apologize to."

* * *

><p><strong>yeah, that's better. Seriously guys, I write these things at, like, 3am. <strong>

**Review, check out my other stories, you know the drill**

**Emmy**


End file.
